Cyril, his girlfriend (wife?) Tanja and a companion were apparently the first of many parties to ski/climb Palü that weekend. Apparently about 10 parties completed the climb on Saturday and another 70 to 80 on Sunday. There had been considerable new snow that had drifted on Friday, but general conditions and weather were fine. A small section of the slope just below the summit released and took it with them - sounds more like a drift but not quite cornice that broke off. The general avalanche danger was not considered high, but just this very local place was apparently dicey. The accident was not observed and only after acquaintances notified the authorities that they were overdue was a search initiated. A Rega helicopter found and retrieved the bodies late Sunday.

His hikr webpage indicates that he started climbing in 2002 and climbed over 993 summits since then - an impressive log!

My condolences to the family and friends of these 3 departed comrades.!

So tragic to read this sad news about Cyril and Tanja and their friend and what happend to them om Piz Palü. Cyril's contribution to SP was huge and his dedication to the mountains was 100%. My deepest condolences to his family. /André

Just like I always hoped I'd climb with Brutus one day, I felt the same about Cyrill. He had such boundless enthusiasm for mountains. I'm feeling perplexed and worried about what the loss of these two prolific climbers means within the space of one week. God bless Cyrill, Tanya and their friend who are gone.